Hurricane Katrina, which hit Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi in 2005, was the deadliest hurricane recorded in mainland United States since 1951. It had a death toll of nearly ***** fatalities. Meanwhile, hurricane Helene, which hit the Southeastern United States in September 2024, was the second deadliest to make landfall in the continental U.S. this century.

In 2022, there were 78 fatalities due to hurricanes reported in the United States. Since the beginning of the century, the highest number of fatalities was recorded in 2005, when four major hurricanes – including Hurricane Katrina – resulted in 1,518 deaths. The worst hurricanes in U.S. history Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in August 2005, ranked as the third deadliest hurricane in the U.S. since records began. Affecting mainly the city of New Orleans and its surroundings, the category 3 hurricane caused an estimated 1,500 fatalities. Katrina was also the costliest tropical cyclone to hit the U.S. in the past seven decades, with damages amounting to roughly 186 billion U.S. dollars. Hurricanes Harvey and Maria, both of which made landfall in 2017, ranked second and third, resulting in damage costs of 149 and 107 billion dollars, respectively. How are hurricanes classified? According to the Saffir-Simpson scale, hurricanes can be classified into five categories, depending on their maximum sustained wind speed. Most of the hurricanes that have made landfall in the U.S. since 1851 are category 1, the mildest of the five. Hurricanes rated category 3 or above are considered major hurricanes and can cause devastating damage. In 2021, there were 38 hurricanes recorded across the globe, of which 17 were major hurricanes.

The category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Galveston, Texas in 1900 was the deadliest to hit the United States, with a death toll estimated between 8,000 and 12,000. Since 1970, only one U.S. hurricane – namely Katrina, which hit in 2005 – made the ranking, with about 1,200 deaths.

This statistic shows the ten natural disasters that resulted in the most fatalities in the United States from 1900 and 2016. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina (listed as storm) caused 1,833 fatalities in the United States.

Bangladesh was hit by ***** out of the *** deadliest tropical cyclones recorded in the past half a century. The storm that hit the country in 1970 caused the largest number of deaths in the period, with approximately *** thousand casualties. It was followed by storm Gorsky, which hit the country *** decades later, and caused roughly *** thousand deaths. India also recorded ***** of the top ten deadliest cyclones of the past decades, but with a much lower death toll than the ones seen in neighboring Bangladesh.

During the start of the current decade, the number of reported deaths due to tropical cyclones worldwide amounted to 2,670. The 10-year period with the highest recorded figures was between 2000 and 2009, where 167,300 deaths were reported due to tropical cyclones. Since 1970, almost 800 thousand deaths due to cyclones have been registered across the globe. Meanwhile, the number of tropical cyclones globally has increased continuously in the past half a century.

In 2023, storms caused nearly ****** deaths across the globe. the third-largest figure recorded since 1990. In the past three decades, the highest annual deathtoll due to storms was registered in 1991, when storm events were responsible for the death of more than *** thousand people worldwide. That year, a massive cyclone hit Bangladesh, becoming one of the deadliest storms of the century. The death count due to storms was also remarkably high in 2008, mainly associated with a cyclone which hit Myanmar in May.

this graph was created in OurDataWorld:

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In 1970, more than 300,000 people died when a strong cyclone hit the coast of Bangladesh.1 In 1985, another storm caused 15,000 deaths. Just six years later, another killed 140,000.

Fast-forward to 2020. Bangladesh was hit by cyclone Amphan, one of the strongest storms on record in the Bay of Bengal. The death toll was 26 — barely visible on the chart below, compared to these very deadly disasters.

That’s 26 too many deaths, and the cyclone also caused huge amounts of damage: millions of people were displaced, and there were large economic losses. But tens — possibly hundreds — of thousands of lives were saved through early warnings, evacuations, and increased resilience. People in Bangladesh are much better protected from disasters than they were a few decades ago.

This development is part of a longer-term and widespread success in reducing humanity’s vulnerability to storms, floods, earthquakes, and other hazards.

Bangladesh is not an isolated example. We can observe long-term improvements in the world's resilience.

Here, I will look at data published by the International Disaster Database, EM-DAT, which stretches back to 1900. In the chart below, I’ve shown the number of deaths from disasters, given as the decadal average. This is helpful as there is a lot of volatility in disasters from year to year.2 You can also explore this data annually.

The number of people killed in disasters has fallen a lot over the last century. That’s despite there being four times as many people. That means the decline in death rates has been even more dramatic.

Introduction

Vietnam’s geographic location and topography make it particularly susceptible to a wide range of disasters, both natural and technological.

This dataset provides data as uploaded, on the occurrence and impacts of mass disasters in Vietnam from 1953 to 2024. This includes both natural (biological, climatological, extra-terrestrial, geophysical, hydrological, meteorological), and technological (industrial accident) disasters. Data was extracted from The International Disaster Database (EM-DAT), maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), published by Open Development Vietnam.

It documents natural and human-related disasters in Vietnam from 1953 onward, with key fields related to: - Disaster types and sub types (e.g., storm, flood, drought, epidemic). - Start and end dates. - Human impact (deaths, injuries, people affected). - Economic damage (where data is available). - Geo-location and metadata (latitude/longitude, region, event name).

How Vietnam has changed since 1953, with a focus on climate change-driven disasters:

• Storms (including tropical cyclones).
• Floods.
• Droughts.

We explore long-term trends, decadal comparisons, regional distribution, and statistical correlations to understand Vietnam’s evolving climate vulnerability. The aim is to uncover data-driven insights that inform climate adaptation, disaster risk management, and sustainable development planning.

Recommended Reading

Saline Intrusion in the Mekong Delta (2021-2022). Part 1: The devastating effects of climate change; Mekong and Bengal Deltas. link - Kaggle

Rainfall & Temperature: Vietnam from 1901 to 2020. Part 3: The devastating effects of climate change; monsoon pattern changes. link - Kaggle

Trend Overview by Decade: vietnam_climate_disaster_trend_by_decade.csv

A markdown document with the R code for all the below visualisations. link

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Bar Chart: - Description: - This chart presents normalised values of four metrics; Event Count, Total Affected, Total Damage Adjusted, and Total Deaths. Aggregated by decade from the 1950's to the 2020's. The normalisation allows comparison across different scales.
- Observations: - The 2000's show the highest Event Count, indicating a peak in disaster frequency. - The 1960's had a significant Total Death component. In November 1964, the quick succession of three typhoons (Iris, Joan, and Kate), caused widespread flooding in Vietnam causing 7,000 deaths, as confirmed by dataset analysis. link - Wikipedia: November 1964 Vietnam floods - Total Affected and Total Damage Adjusted peak in the 1990's and 2000's, suggesting increased vulnerability or severity during these periods. - Insights: - This visualisation highlights temporal shifts in disaster impacts, with the 1960's notable for high mortality and the 2000's for frequency, reflecting historical disaster patterns. However, the 1964 Pacific typhoon season was the most active tropical cyclone season recorded globally, with a total of 39 tropical storms forming. It had no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1964, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between June and December. The unprecedented and extended tropical storm season of 1964, accounted for the large amount of deaths by disasters, during the 1960's in Vietnam.

*2020s data is partial

Summary

• Rising Disaster Frequency:
  • Climate-related disasters have increased sharply since the 1980's, particularly storms and floods.
  • From just 2 recorded events in the 195...

The total costs of Hurricane Katrina amounted to 125 billion U.S. dollars at the time the disaster occurred in 2005. While this is around the same total cost as Hurricane Harvey, when adjusted for inflation, the former is more expensive, with the price being the equivalent of 201.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2024 (compared to 160 billion U.S. dollars for Hurricane Harvey). Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina struck Louisiana on August 9, 2005 and displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The death toll reached almost 2,000 people. Katrina was also the most expensive U.S. catastrophe since 1992 in terms of property loss. Harvey, Maria and IrmaKatrina was responsible for the spike in insured losses caused by natural disasters globally in 2005. Harvey, Maria and Irma also made quite the impact in 2017 when they hit central America and then made land on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The frequency and intensity of such natural disasters are increasing.

Since 2000, hurricanes were the natural disasters with the highest estimated economic losses in the Caribbean. Hurricane Ian, which affected several islands in the Caribbean (especially Cuba) and the southeast of the United States (specially Florida and the Carolinas) in September of 2022, caused overall losses for approximately 100 billion U.S. dollars. Hurricane Maria in 2017 ranked second, with an economic impact estimated at 68.6 billion U.S. dollars, in this case including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Dominica, Guadeloupe, the Dominican Republic, Martinique, and Haiti.

The aftermath of Hurricane Dorian

The Bahamas was the country most severely affected by Hurricane Dorian, which hit in late August 2019, lasting until September 9. This storm, a category 5 hurricane, claimed a total of 65 lives and was labelled the worst cyclone and natural disaster to ever occur in the Bahamas. That year, this island nation received the highest extreme climate risk score in the whole Latin American and Caribbean region.

The death toll of natural disasters in the Caribbean

The magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck Haiti on August 2021 has been the deadliest natural disaster in Latin America and the Caribbean from 2018 to 2022, estimated to have killed 2,248 people. Regarding tropical cyclones, hurricane Eta in 2020 has been the deadliest in the region during the same period with approximately 183 victims.

In 2024, there were roughly 18,100 reported fatalities caused by natural disaster events worldwide. This was well below the 21st-century average and significantly lower than the fatalities recorded in 2023, which were driven by the earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria on February and became the deadliest catastrophes in 2023, with nearly ****** reported deaths. Economic losses due to natural disasters The economic losses due to natural disaster events worldwide amounted to about *** billion U.S. dollars in 2024. Although figures in recent years have remained mostly stable, 2011 remains the costliest year to date. Among the different types of natural disaster events, tropical cyclones caused the largest economic losses across the globe in 2024. What does a natural disaster cost? Hurricane Katrina has been one of the costliest disasters in the world, costing the insurance industry some *** billion U.S. dollars. The resilience of societies against catastrophes have been boosted by insurance industry payouts. Nevertheless, insurance payouts are primarily garnered by industrialized countries. In emerging and developing regions, disaster insurance coverage is still limited, despite the need for improved risk management and resilience as a method to mitigate the impact of disasters and to promote sustainable growth.

Between 1980 and 2023, there were a total of ****** deaths associated with billion-dollar weather and climate disasters across the United States. Tropical cyclones such as hurricanes were some of the most deadly events, contributing to nearly ***** deaths during that period.

From 1950 to 2024, the cyclone Bhola that hit Bangladesh in 1970 was the deadliest natural disaster in the world. The exact death toll is impossible to calculate, but it is estimated that over 300,000 lives were lost as a result of the cyclone. The Tangshan earthquake in China in 1976 is estimated to have caused the second-highest number of fatalities. The Haiti earthquake The fifth-deadliest natural disaster during this period was the earthquake in Haiti in 2010. However, death tolls vary between 100,000 and 316,000, meaning that some estimates make it the deadliest natural disaster in the world since 1950, and the deadliest earthquake since 1900. Sixty percent of the country’s hospitals and eighty percent of the country’s schools were destroyed. It was the worst earthquake to hit the Caribbean in 200 years, with a magnitude of 7.0 at its epicenter only 25 kilometers away from Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. Poor construction practices were to blame for many of the deaths; Haiti’s buildings were not earthquake resistant and were not built according to building code due to a lack of licensed building professionals. High population density was also to blame for the high number of fatalities. One fourth of the country’s inhabitants lived in the Port-au-Prince area, meaning half of the country’s population was directly affected by the earthquake. Increasing extreme weather As global warming continues to accelerate climate change, it is estimated that natural catastrophes such as cyclones, rainfalls, landslides, and heat waves will intensify in the coming years and decades. For instance, the economic losses caused by natural disasters worldwide increased since 2015. Moreover, it is expected that countries in the Global South will be affected the most by climate change in the coming years, and many of these are already feeling the impact of climate change.

In 2024, there were ** hurricanes registered worldwide, up from ** hurricanes a year earlier. This was nevertheless below the average of ** hurricanes per year registered from 1990 to 2022. The years of 1992 and 2018 tied as the most active in the indicated period, each with ** hurricanes recorded. The Pacific Northwest basin recorded the largest number of hurricanes in 2024. Most exposed countries to hurricanes With the Pacific Northwest basin being one of the most active for hurricanes in the world, there is perhaps no surprise that Japan and the Philippines were two of the countries most exposed to tropical cyclones in 2024, both West Pacific nations. Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic was the most exposed country in the Atlantic Ocean and ranked first as the most exposed country worldwide during the same year. Effects of tropical cyclones From 1970 to 2019, almost ******* deaths due to tropical cyclones have been reported worldwide. In the past decade, the number of such casualties stood at some ******, the lowest decadal figure in the last half-century. In contrast to the lower number of deaths, economic losses caused by tropical cyclones have continuously grown since 1970, reaching a record high of more than *** billion U.S. dollars from 2010 to 2019.

There were a total of 1,033 fatalities reported due to heat waves, wildfires, and drought in the United States in 2024. In total, there were about 1,576 fatalities due to severe natural disasters in the United States that year.

Extreme heat was the deadliest weather condition in the United States in 2023, resulting in a total of 207 lives lost that year. This was followed by fire weather, having caused 103 fatalities. On the other side of the spectrum, only one life was lost due to ice in the North American country that year.

Flood can be categorized as flash floods, river floods, and coastal floods. The most lethal type of flooding is flash floods usually are usually contributed to by rainfall intensity and duration. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 caused ***** deaths and the flooding from the storm is considered one of the deadliest floods in U.S. history.

The United States experienced a significant surge in tornado activity in 2024, with 1,910 reported across the country. This marked a substantial increase from previous years, highlighting the unpredictable nature of these violent atmospheric phenomena. Fatalities and economic impact While tornado frequency increased, the death toll from such events remained relatively low compared to historical peaks. In 2023, 86 fatalities were reported due to tornadoes, a notable increase from the 23 deaths in 2022 but far below the 553 lives lost in 2011. Moreover, the economic impact of these storms was substantial, with tornado damage in 2023 amounting to approximately 1.38 billion U.S. dollars, nearly doubling from the previous year. However, this pales in comparison to the record-setting damage of 9.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2011. Comparison to other extreme weather events While tornadoes pose significant risks, hurricanes have historically caused more extensive damage and loss of life in the United States. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 remains the costliest tropical cyclone in recent decades, with damages totaling 200 billion U.S. dollars when adjusted to 2024 values. The impact of such extreme weather events extends beyond immediate destruction, as evidenced by the 1,518 hurricane-related fatalities recorded in 2005. As climate change continues to influence weather patterns, both tornado and hurricane activity may see further shifts in frequency and intensity in the years to come.

The hurricanes in the U.S. and Mexico in September and October incurred an economic loss of about 110 billion U.S. dollars, the most of any natural disaster event in 2024. Three of the ten most expensive catastrophes in that year were hurricanes. Weather, climate, water related disaster The disasters that caused mortality in large numbers include droughts, storms, floods, and extreme temperatures. Hurricanes alone generated 35 percent of the total economic losses among the leading disasters over these 50 years. The global cost of natural disaster losses was primarily financial losses. Low-income countries are more affected by natural disasters when compared to the richer countries in the world. American Hurricanes Floods were the most common weather-related disasters recorded, yet storms had the highest human and economic losses. As the most common cause of damage, storms are the only disaster for which the attribution component grows. As of 2023, Hurricane Katrina was by far the most destructive hurricane in the United States. Officials confirmed more than 1,800 deaths, estimated damages of about 200 billion U.S. dollars, the destruction of approximately 350,000 homes, and displaced almost a million individuals.